Stachowicz admitted to setting the fire at the scene when the police arrived.
According to the AP, “He said he wanted to burn down the office because the federal government was shutting down TikTok in violation of his constitutional rights and peace was no longer an option.”
Credit: Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St Peter the Apostle
A senior leader in the Chaldean Catholic Church was arrested Thursday at San Diego International Airport while allegedly attempting to board an international flight.
Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, head of a Chaldean Catholic church in El Cajon, California, was detained by deputies as he was reportedly trying to leave the country, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, with roots in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).
Bishop Emanuel Hana Shaleta (Bishop Emanuel Shaleta) was born in Fishkabour-Zakho, Iraq.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Shaleta, 69, was arrested at the airport Thursday and booked into jail on suspicion of eight counts each of embezzlement and money laundering, along with an enhancement for aggravated white-collar crime. Authorities set bail at $125,000.
On August 19, 2025, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a representative from St. Peter Chaldean Church, which is located at 1627 Jamacha Wayin Unincorporated El Cajon.
The church representative provided a statement and documents showing potential embezzlement from the church. Upon completion of the initial investigation, the case was forwarded to and investigated by the Sheriff’s Fraud Unit.
On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta was contacted and detained at the San Diego International Airport attempting to leave the country. He was arrested for eight counts of 508 PC – Embezzlement, eight counts of 186.10(a) PC – Money Laundering, and one count of 186.11(a)(1) PC – Aggravated White Collar Crime Enhancement.
Shaleta was transported and booked at the San Diego Central Jail for the aforementioned charges. He is currently being held on $125,000 bail and a hold under Penal Code section 1275.1 was approved by the court.
The arrest stems from an investigation launched by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Fraud Unit in August 2025, after church representatives reported potential financial irregularities.
Authorities allege that Shaleta misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon.
Documents reviewed by investigators indicate that rental payments for a church-owned property were directed to Shaleta in cash, which went unaccounted for, and he later attempted to reimburse the funds using checks from the cathedral’s charity account signed by himself. Estimates of the missing funds range from $427,000 to as much as $1 million.
A private investigator’s report sent to the Vatican last year recounted allegations that the bishop had regularly visited Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana, flagged by human rights journalists as “a brothel where trafficked women and girls are forced to work in the sex trade.”
That retired FBI special agent Wade Dudley told The Pillar that the bishop’s car had been observed “in a parking lot exclusively for patrons of Hong Kong, and we have seen him walking to the border and across the border, and we have seen him get picked up by a third-party ride share that exclusively takes customers to that establishment.”
The report also documented an unusual and longstanding situation in the bishop’s personal life.
Shaleta has held for years a joint personal bank account with a woman who was the parish secretary when Shaleta was a pastor in Michigan.
In 2025 the bank account’s balance was in excess of $40,000, and appeared to receive regular deposits from Shaleta.
When Shaleta became in 2015 the eparch for Chaldean Catholics in Canada, the woman “started making frequent visits to Toronto, staying either at a nearby hotel or at his house,” the private detective noted.
In 2017, Shaleta was appointed to lead the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego.
As President Donald Trump suggests that Cuba could soon fall, his administration has begun exploring whether federal prosecutors could charge members of the regime or the Communist Party with crimes, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The administration is working to develop possible criminal cases tied to issues like drugs or violence, according to the person. The multiagency effort started recently, the person said.
U.S. officials charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife with drug conspiracy charges in the U.S., after they were captured by the military in January at a compound in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Federal charges against Cuban officials could ratchet up public pressure on the country and could be used as the basis to levy additional economic sanctions imposed by the State Department, which is been consulted as part of the effort, according to the person familiar with the matter. The U.S. already has a commercial, economic, and financial embargo on Cuba that dates back decades.
Putin and Trump: will the attempts to normalize the relationship be derailed by the Iran crisis?
Will the military conflict against Iran turn into a US-Russia conflict?
As the military strikes by the US and Israel continue, new worrying developments threaten to pit Russia against Donald J. Trump’s administration, after more than a year of efforts to normalize diplomatic and commercial relations between Washington and Moscow.
Reports arose today saying that Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft, and other assets in the region – doing, in fact, the same that the US has been doing for Ukraine against Russian troops and assets.
BREAKING: Russia has provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike the U.S. military, AP sources say. https://t.co/J2cINasseT
“The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the U.S. intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information.”
This is the first indication that Moscow is involved in the military conflict between the US and Israel against Iran.
BREAKING: Russia’s Lavrov says “Russia will do everything to create an atmosphere that will make US and Israel operations against Iran impossible.” pic.twitter.com/EruqetfLpr
“The intelligence assistance is the first known assistance Russia is giving to Iran, as the U.S. and Israel continue to strike at the Iranian regime and its military capabilities. The intelligence aid from Russia was first reported by the Washington Post.
Earlier Friday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia’s government is in ‘dialogue’ with representatives of the Iranian leadership. Peskov’s comments, his only remarks in relation to Iran at his Friday briefing, came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Russia and China were assisting Iran politically and ‘in other ways’.”
Read: irony alert.
I can’t believe that Russia would aid and help a country that is at war with the US!
The US would never do that to Russia. Imagine us funding, arming and helping some other country target Russian troops and cities.
The Department of War is declaring war on an American company.
The Pentagon has officially deemed the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic PBC to be a “supply chain risk” over an ongoing dispute concerning restrictions Anthropic wants to place on the military’s use of its AI programs, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The designation is normally used for foreign companies based in nations that are adversaries of the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal.
It not only cuts Anthropic out of government contracting, it could force companies that wish to do business with the government to cut ties with the company as well.
“DOW officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately,” a senior Pentagon official told Bloomberg, using the acronym for Department of War.
The designation is the latest escalation of a weeks-long dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic, as Politico reported.
The company wants the Pentagon to agree that its AI product — known as “Claude” — will not be used for surveillance of American citizens or in the development of autonomous weapons systems (systems that will operate without human oversight).
“Claude” is already in use at the Pentagon, and reportedly played a role in the successful operation that captured now-former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
However, the Pentagon refuses to accept any limitations on lawful use of technology it procures. And it apparently sees the Anthropic demands as a precedent that could shackle defense measures in the future.
“From the very beginning, this has been about one fundamental principle: The military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes,” the Pentagon said in the statement.
“The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk.”
Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei blasted the Pentagon in a memo last week to Anthropic employees that was leaked to the media.
In the memo, according to the Wall Street Journal, he wrote that the tussle with the Pentagon was fueled by Anthropic’s resistance to giving President Donald Trump “dictator-style praise.”
On Thursday, Amodei apologized for the phrasing in the memo and said the company would fight the “supply chain risk” designation in court, the newspaper reported.
“We do not believe this action is legally sound,” he said, according to the report.
He could be supported by Democrats.
On Thursday, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic presidential contender in the 2020 election cycle, issued a statement attacking the Pentagon’s decision.
“This reckless action is shortsighted, self-destructive, and a gift to our adversaries,” the statement said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The government openly attacking an American company for refusing to compromise its own safety measures is something we expect from China, not the United States.”
Hands Off Iran, “We Love the Ayatollah,” and “Globalize the Intifada” protests seem horribly misguided, the result of an advanced psyop campaign. Photo by Diane Krauthamer, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), via Wikimedia Commons.
While leftists protest in the streets to support the brutal Iranian regime, with no ramifications or fear for their safety, an Iranian government official made it clear what will happen to its citizens if they dare to protest in the streets of Iran against the government.
Salar Abnoush, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) general-turned-lawmaker, said that the cost of going against the Iranian government by protesting is death.
In comments aired on Iranian state TV, Abnoush made it clear that anyone who dares to seek freedom from the tyrannical government will be seen as ‘aligning with the enemy’ and will be shot.
Translations via Iran International English.
“Those who are tuned in to Iran International, and those who, for whatever reason, do not listen to our outlet….parents, if your son or daughter will not listen, that is not our fault.”
“Anyone in Iran today who raises their voice and speaks in harmony with the enemy, Tel Aviv is under their feet and Netanyahu is over their head.”
“A shoot-on-sight issue has been issued for them.”
“No one has spoken to you this plainly.”
“We do not want your child to be killed because your child is ignorant, your child is unaware.”
Watch:
Abnoush was formerly the deputy commander of the Basij.
The regime’s HR department is working overtime and getting blown up in the process. Image created by Gemini.
President Trump is creating job openings across Iran. These are highly paid executive positions, top spots in the regime. However, some of these guys got their jobs because their predecessors had been killed in the last six months, so these jobs come with a bit of assassination risk. But until then, the benefits are great: forty virgins, generous per diem, and a full dental package.
The joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, codenamed Operation Epic Fury by the United States and Operation Roaring Lion by Israel, began on February 28, 2026. In its opening salvos, U.S. intelligence and military sources reported approximately 40 to 49 senior Iranian officials killed. The strikes targeted leadership compounds in Tehran and other cities, effectively decapitating Iran’s military and political command structure. The following are the most prominent confirmed deaths.
Supreme Leadership
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader for 36 years, was killed on February 28 in a strike on his office and compound in central Tehran. Iranian state media confirmed his death on March 1. His daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and daughter-in-law were also killed in the same strike. His wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, died from her injuries on March 2.
Military Command
Several senior military commanders were killed simultaneously, suggesting they had gathered at a common command site. Notably, this was the second successive generation of Iranian military leadership to be eliminated. IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour had only been appointed in June 2025 after Israel killed his predecessor, Hossein Salami, in the Twelve-Day War. Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi had similarly replaced Mohammad Bagheri, who was killed in that same earlier conflict.
Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour — Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC. Appointed June 13, 2025, he was the second IRGC commander killed by Israel in under a year.
Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi — Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces. Iranian state media confirmed his death on March 1. He had been sanctioned by the United States, the EU, the UK, and Australia for human-rights abuses, including ordering troops to fire on protesters in 2019.
Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh — Defense Minister. He joined Iran’s air force at 19, flew F-14s in the Iran-Iraq War, and served as Air Force commander from 2018 to 2021 before being appointed defense minister in 2024.
Adm. Ali Shamkhani — Secretary of the Defense Council and former head of the Supreme National Security Council, a post he held for a decade. He had survived an Israeli strike in June 2025 after being pulled from the rubble of his home. At the time of his death, he was overseeing Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the United States, telling reporters just days before his death that “an immediate agreement is within reach.”
Salah Asadi — Head of intelligence for Iran’s military emergency command.
Mohammad Shirazi — Head of the military office of the Supreme Leader.
Intelligence
Four senior IRGC intelligence commanders were confirmed killed: Javad Pourhossein (head of foreign intelligence), Mohammad-Reza Bajestani (head of security), Ali Kheirandish (head of counterterrorism), and Saeed Ehya Hamidi (adviser on the war with Israel). Additional reports indicate that four unnamed top officials from the Ministry of Intelligence were also killed.
Defense Research
Hossein Jabal Amelian, head of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), and Reza Mozaffari Nia, the former SPND head, were both confirmed killed by the IDF.
In addition to so many top leaders being killed, Iran has been faced with a succession crisis.
Following Khamenei’s death, Article 111 of Iran’s constitution triggered the formation of a three-member Interim Leadership Council consisting of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, and Guardian Council cleric Alireza Arafi. The council holds transitional authority while the 88-member Assembly of Experts selects a permanent successor.
That process has been directly targeted. On March 3, the IDF struck the Assembly of Experts building in Qom while the body was reportedly convening to vote on a successor. An Israeli defense official confirmed the intent: “We wanted to prevent them from picking a new supreme leader.” Israeli sources reported that the council secretary and officials responsible for counting votes were killed, and the ballot box was destroyed. Iran’s state media disputed whether members were present, saying the building had been evacuated before the strike. The Assembly of Experts compound in Tehran had also been targeted the previous day.
As of March 6, no new Supreme Leader has been chosen. The leading reported candidate is Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late Supreme Leader, described by Israeli and Western media as the frontrunner. He is a hardline cleric with deep ties to the IRGC who has never held elected office. His mother, wife, and one sister were killed in the same strikes; he was reportedly not present.
President Trump has publicly stated that Khamenei’s son is “unacceptable” to him. Other names in circulation include Alireza Arafi and Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani.
Trump summarized the campaign’s leadership impact succinctly: “The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates.”
San Francisco’s Democrat Mayor Daniel Lurie calmly walked away as his security team was violently attacked on the street in the Tenderloin District on Thursday evening.
One San Francisco officer assigned to Lurie’s security detail was bleeding from his head after he was bodyslammed.
Lurie was not injured.
According to Mission Local, Lurie “hopped out” of his SUV to confront the three people who were standing in the street and blocking his vehicle.
The officer instructed the men to move out of the street when one of the men came at him.
The officer tried to fend off the attacker and grabbed his arm. The suspect slammed the officer to the ground.
Mayor Daniel Lurie’s police security detail was attacked at the edge of the Tenderloin on Thursday evening just before 6 p.m., according to witnesses and a video obtained by Mission Local.
The mayor was unharmed. One unidentified San Francisco police officer, who was part of Lurie’s security team and was in the black SUV used to ferry Lurie around alongside the mayor and his driver, was left bleeding from the back of his head.
He panted as he spoke to Mission Local and gave a statement to fellow police officers who responded to the scene.
The officer said that three people blocked the car shortly prior to the attack, and that Lurie “hopped out” to ask them to move. They began to “comply,” the officer told his fellow cops, but, at some point, one man began “talking gibberish.”
The officer then intervened and asked the man to move out of the way. The man did at first, but then came at him, he told officers.
The officer held onto the man’s upper body and then “fell back” with the man on top of him, and hit his head on the pavement as he fell.
Murad Omar Houry of Plano, Texas. Credit: Plano Police Department
A devout teen boy with his whole life ahead of him was killed earlier this week in Texas by an incredibly reckless driver.
As WFAA reported, a white Lincoln Navigator with four occupants was struck by a blue Chevrolet Volt driven by 30-year-old Murad Omar Houry of Plano on March 2.
Houry was heading south on the roadway before he lost control and crossed the center median. He ended up hitting the white Lincoln Navigator traveling north on Independence Parkway.
Here is a video report on the incident:
One of the passengers was killed thanks to Houry, while the other three suffered injuries. The deceased passenger was identified as a 15-year-old boy named Carter Heise.
The injured passengers were sent to a local hospital. Heise, however, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Houry was not hurt in the crash.
Police said that speed appeared to be one contributing factor in the fatal crash caused by Houry. They did not specify any other potential factors.
Following the incident, Houry was arrested and charged with manslaughter.
As WFAA reported, Plano police spokesperson Jerry Minton explained that the manslaughter charge was due to what investigators Houry’s speeding and other “preventable reckless actions.”
Carter Heise’s family released the following statement, which emphasized the boy’s Christian faith and how loved he was:
Carter was a wonderful, strong Christian young man who was loved and respected by everyone he met.
Words cannot truly express how deeply we loved and admired our son and the incredible young man he became.
His family will miss him beyond measure and cherish his memory always.
PEOPLE magazine reports that show Houry remains at the Collin County Jail as of Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Plano Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE that an investigation is ongoing.
Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi says he has agreed to accept the role of Iran’s transitional leader.
Reza Pahlavi is the son of the Shah of Iran who fled the country when Ayatollah Khomeneini took control of the Islamic nation.
Reza Pahlavi released this statement earlier today.
Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi from Iran
The Islamic Republic has launched missiles at the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. It is targeting our Arab neighbors. These violations of their sovereignty are unacceptable, and we condemn them. But this is nothing new. This is who the Islamic Republic has always been, and this is why it must end.
For nearly five decades, this terrorist regime has sown chaos and bloodshed across our region. It propped up Assad, turning Syria into a graveyard. It planted Hezbollah as a state within a state in Lebanon. It armed the Houthis to destabilize the Arabian Peninsula. It empowered militias in Iraq to undermine Iraqi sovereignty. It attacked the economic hubs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
None of this has ever been the desire of the Iranian people, but rather that of a regime occupying our country. Now, however, the landscape has fundamentally shifted. Assad is gone. Hezbollah has been decimated. The regime’s military nuclear program has been set back. Its economy is in a freefall. The pillars of this regime’s aggression are crumbling. The Iranian people have paid the price in blood to reach this moment. The regime massacred tens of thousands of my compatriots in just two days, but it didn’t break the people.
Instead, the regime itself is breaking. Today, his History reminds us of our future potential. Before the revolution, Iran worked closely with Arab leaders, from King Faisal to Sheik Zahid to King Hussein to President Sadat. In Oman, my father helped Sultan Qabuz defend his country against insurgency. We were true partners then. We will be true partners again.
The Iranian people have called on me to lead the transition after the regime is gone. I have accepted that responsibility. Part of their great mandate to me is to return our nation and our foreign relations to normalcy. I will do exactly that.
My commitment is to ensure the transition is orderly, the country is stabilized, and Iranians determine their future through the ballot box. We will not repeat the mistakes of past transitions. We will avoid debaathification scenarios and maintain as many bureaucrats and public servants in transition as possible. Iranians have made their choice at an enormous price.
Now, I ask our friends in the Arab world to join us, to prepare to recognize and engage our transitional government. We will rebuild our nation not for expansion, but to serve the Iranian people. We will base our diplomatic relations not on exportation of ideology, but on mutual respect and shared interest.
We will reintegrate into the regional and global economy to increase prosperity for the citizens of all of our nations. Standing with the Iranian people is not charity. It is a strategic investment in making our region one of the most stable, secure, and prosperous in the world. Together, we can build a Middle East our children will be proud to inherit. Take this new path with us.
Since he left Iran as a young man, Reza’s goal has always been to return to the country his father ruled.
Via BRICS on X.
JUST IN: Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi says he has accepted role as Iran’s transitional leader. pic.twitter.com/JBZKzes9dE
(@alx) 
BREAKING: Russia’s Lavrov says “Russia will do everything to create an atmosphere that will make US and Israel operations against Iran impossible.” 
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi says he has accepted role as Iran’s transitional leader.